Everything starts with the three factions; the elitist, technologically advanced Ascension, the rogue handymen known as the Remnants and the inevitable aliens called the Hai-Genti, which are looking for a new homeworld and have therefore been trying to transform earth into Waterworld, killing most of humanity during that process.

The ideologies and goals of these races are clearly set apart in the three campaigns. In terms of gameplay there are also differences of course, with Remnants relying on the need to put things hastily together themselves, using old vehicles and scrap. The Ascension on the other hand are so "next-gen" it's a bit too much for their own good, some of their units can morph (at a small resource price) into another unit and all their buildings are constantly gathering solar energy. Finally, the Hai-Genti are the Alien-/Zerg-kind of aliens, putting a lot of faith in melee-attacks, organic structures and such multi-arm powerhouses as the Devourer. Their interface reflects this slimey, buglike theme as well, with some tentacles waving and withdrawing when you're pointing your mouse over them. They also have these Bio-thralls, mutated humans which can crawl in the hatching eggs of the Hai-Genti, in order to strengthen the unit you want from that egg. It feels a bit clumsy at first, requiring a lot of clicking and ordering around than instead of just clicking on a Barracks and create a stronger unit but it's still a nice touch.

The thralls originate from Biomass Farms, a building which the Hai-Genti drop from space right on the passage to underground human survivor hideouts. If they're not creating enslaved thralls the aliens are just digesting the folks underneath the surface through these farms. The human factions obviously have a more "subtle" approach of getting what they need from the survivor compounds.

Not so remarkable at first but every unit in Maelstrom gains experience. Normal troops get better armor and weapons by killing more things, your hero will receive more special treats in the form an extra ability like Mammon's Vortex (a whirlwind sucking up infantry units) or the ability to secretly place nukes in the enemy's backyard. There is also a Direct Control mode to wreak some havoc in third person view (while controlling any unit). It might have its use for some tasks which would otherwise take up too much microing but it still feels odd for a strategy game. As long as it's not such a vital part as it was in the unfortunate Rise & Fall I don't have such a problem with it.

Graphically there isn't really much to get excited about. The effects and all are decent enough and it's cool to see the beautiful Perimeter-like shields return (for the Hai-Genti side) but overall there are titles, even released this year, that look a lot better. Especially in terms of infantry animations there doesn't seem to be much life in it. But as with most games you'll get used to the look while playing. Since Maelstrom is running on an improved Perimeter engine, it's evident that the developers have also made sure that you can influence the terrain. You'll see all kinds of garbage and desolated buildings crumble or be blown away by the ongoing fights, more cool though is that terrain can be flooded (by Hai-Genti water meteors) and that the human sides can terraform the soil to compensate for this. For the rest Maelstrom promises the basic RTS featureset we all have come to expect: a solid campaign, a Battle mode (or let's call it skirmish) and multiplayer with up to six players.